Family irate at drunk hit and run

A MOFFAT Beach family has been left traumatised and angry after a drunk Irish backpacker crashed a car into their house as they slept and then drove off.

The incident has caused thousands of dollars worth of damage to the Hinton family’s home in Roderick Street.

But the family of four is counting its blessings, saying it is a miracle no one was killed.

Tamera Hinton said yesterday that the car crashed into the side of the house about 3am Friday. Two large air-conditioners cushioned the blow, potentially saving lives.

“If they (the air-conditioners) weren’t there he would have ended up in our bedroom,” Mrs Hinton said.

“My daughter sleeps about a metre from where it all happened. He could have killed her. I’m just so upset about it. They (the driver and a passenger) left the scene of a crime, for goodness sake.”

Compounding the family’s anger is that the 22-year-old driver of the early model Magna station wagon, Robert Gordon O’Hanlon, was only fined $1000 and had his licence suspended for 10 months when he appeared in Maroochydore Magistrates Court on Friday.

Mr O’Hanlon recorded a blood alcohol reading of 0.160 – more than three times the legal limit.

Mrs Hinton’s husband, Paul, immediately called police following the incident and the badly damaged car was intercepted near the house.

Mrs Hinton described the incident as “very scary”.

“We had absolutely no idea what it was, of course, until we started running around the house and saw the head lights,” she said.

“We (initially) thought the toilet had exploded. Water was going everywhere.”

The family is yet to have the damage assessed by its insurer.

Mrs Hinton labelled the punishment meted out to the Irishman as “so wrong”.

“It just makes me so angry to think that the guy just took off,” she said.

“He didn’t even stay around to see if anyone was hurt. It was like a hit-and-run sort of thing.”